Propeller.



No. 848,942. PATENTED APR. 2, 1907.

J. A. WADE. PROPELLBR.

APPLIOATION FILED IBB. 19,1906.

HV1/1 NN Us UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

JoIIN .A.j WADE, or TRAvERsE cITY, MICHIGAN.

I'DROPELLER.

ivo-.848,942

specification of Lettersraeni. p Daimon me@ reimmy 19, 1906.v sarai No. 301,946.

. Patented Apri12,'190'7.

To au wbmt may concern:

Beit knownthat I, JOHN A. WADE, a citi-i zen of the UnitedStates, residing at Traverse City, -in the county of' Grand Traverse and State of Michigam'have invented a new and useful Propeller, of which the following is a specification. I

The principal objectlofithe present invention is to provide a novel form of mechanism for propelling.air-ships,l carriages, and vehicles of all Vclasses wherein atmospheric pres-l sure may lbe vsuccessflilly employed'asthe propelling medium.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this class inwhicha fan or similarmember is arranged to create a partial vacuunrin advanceof a solid disk or similar member against which the pressure of the atmosphere may act for the purpose 'of moving the disk orv other element and any vehicle by which said disk is carried.

A still further object of the invention is to provide adevice oftliis class inwhich a cyl-y the rearof 'the disk, so that thefpressure of,

the displaced air plus atmospheric pressure may operate on. said disk and advance the Vith these and otherv objects'in view, as'

willlmore fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts herei'nafterffully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly Apointedout'in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the forin,

proportions, size, and min'ordetails of the structure may be Inadewithout departing from the spirit or sacrificing any.H of the advantages of the invention.

Inthe accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of a propelling Ymechanism constructed in accordance lwith the in-l vention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of i propelling device.

Similar/ numerals of reference are emjend ofthe cylinder and forced out at the opposite end, resultingvin va movement of the cylinder-in the direction 'indicated by the arployed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawlngs. y

The apparatus forming the subject of the present invention is designed principally as a' means for propelling air-ships, boats, carriages, and vehicles of all classes, but which may also be employed to advantageas 'a 'sta-V tionary motor Ymember for operating ma? chinery ofv any type or employed for power purposes generally.

,In carrying out the invention a cylinder 10, open at both ends, is placed on the vehicle to be propelled, and supported 'within the vcenter of the cylinder in any suitable manner is a shaft 1.1, to which some-motor element, such as that 'indicated at 12,-is secured or connected. i AMounted on ,the shaft is a fan 15, having a solid central disk 16, which is'about one-half as large in diameter as the cylinder 10. From the periphery of thisdisk project fan-blades 17, whichmay-be set at any desired angle with respect' to thelongitudinal axis of the shaft and cylinder. The periphery of the 4fan is but slightly less in diameter than the bore of the cylinder, and when the shaft and fan are rotated the air will be drawn in atone row in Fig. l.

f During the operation of the fan a partial vacuum will be formed inadvance of the disk 16, `and thiswill naturally result in sub-r jecting the rear face of the diskv to theaction of atmospheric pressure, the working force thus exercised in moving the disk in thev direction indicated by the -arrow .being Aproportioned to thevacuum in advance of the disk, so that with a disk, say, six inches in di ameter,fand theoreticallyfa perfect vacuum in advance of the; disk, the atmospheric pressure acting on the rear face of the disk will bel approximately four hundred. and twentyfour pounds. It is of course impossible to producel a perfect vacuum in advance of the disk, so lthat the working pressure on 'the'. rear face would be less than that amount; but this-Working force-is materially increased bythe crease in pressure of the air at the rear of .the disk due tothe action of thefan. As the air in front of the disk is forced rearward there is more or less compression of air within the rear portion of the cylinder,

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and this additional pressure plus atmos' pheric pressure constitutes` lthe VWorking force in moving the disk and-,the cylinder forward.

In order to increase the vacuum in advance of the disk, auxiliary cylinders 20 and auxiliary fans 21 may be employed, as

ships or boats, in that by stopping one or other of the auxiliary fans the course of the vessel may be directed,v these auxiliary fans' and cylinders being utilized as steering members. disk 16 may form a part of the fan proper or may be in the form 'of a stationarymember,

, this construction being illustrated in Fig. 4,

wherein a central disk 16 is shown as rigidly-- secured to the cylinder by arms 24, and said fixed disk is provided With a central hearing for the support of the operating-shaft 11. In thiscase also'the air will be exhausted to a greater or less extentat the inlet endv of the cylinder, and atmospheric pressure plus the pressure of the air displaced Will constitute the Working the cylinder.

IVith an apparatus constructed. in accordance With this invention it is. possible to utilize atmospheric pressure for power purposes to much better advantage than is the force in advancing the diskand case With ordinary fans orvhelical propelling devices which act as air-displacing members from their carrying-shafts to their periph'- cries.-

It is of course obvious that the solid r @aim 1. A propelling device for air-ships, carriages and the like, comprising4 a cylindrical caslng open at both ends and vof substantially uniform diameter from end to end, la' centrally-arranged disk Within said casing, and' means for exhausting the airy in advan'ce of the disk to .permit the exerciselof atmos-4 pheric pressure on the rear face of the disk,

and the forward movement of the disk, lthecasing andthe apparatus to which the latter j 'is attached.

2. Ina propelling dev-ice for air-ships, carriages and other vehicles, a casing open at Aboth'e'nds and lof uniform diameter from end to end, a disk arranged centrally of the casing and adapted to be acted upon by atmospheric pressure to .effect the' forward movement, fan-blades arranged between the. periphery of the disk and the wall of the casing,v-

and meansfor operating? the fan-blades to create a partial vacuum 1n front of the` disk.

3.w In apparatus of the class described, a cylindrical casing open at both ends, and of substantially uniform diameter throughout its length, a revoluble fan arranged therein and having a solid central disk, the fan being arranged to create a partial vacuumin advance of the ldisk, auxiliary casings connect-- ed -at their front ends'to themain casing at a pointin advance of theV fan, and auxiliaryA fans mountedfin auxiliary Casin s and acting to further exhaustthe air in a vauce vof the maui casing.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto aflixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

.y JOHN A. WADE.

Witnesses: i JOSEPH V. GONZALES, JNO. E. PARKER. 

